The Tarpworm from DutchWare Gear is one of the latest products to be offered by Dutch. They produce a variety of gizmos designed to make setting up hammocks and shelters quick and easy. As much as I enjoy tying knots and making use of cordage, I really am amazed at the simple, elegant solutions created by them, seemingly in an effort to make the knot obsolete. When I started rigging my Warbonnet Edge tarp, I browsed over to the Dutchware website and found Tarpworms. I tested a couple of DutchWare‘s other products last year, which you can check out here.
DutchWare Gear Tarpworms are designed for use on guy lines. The Tarpworm replaces knots such as the taut line hitch and provides an easy to adjust fastening system. The Tarpworm is sold with a loop of shock cord attached to one end. By attaching the Tarpworm to your shelter of choice with this loop of shock cord, guy lines will now self-tighten and keep slack out of nylon and other stretchable fabrics. Just lark‘s-head the shock cord to the attachment point on your shelter, run an appropriate sized guy line through the other hole on the Tarpworm, and you are ready to go.
I believe the DutchWare Gear Tarpworm is the smallest and lightest line tensioner I have tried to date. In fact, the Tarpworm is so small that I had trouble photographing it. My camera tended to look right past it and focus on the background. DutchWare Gear reports the weight of the Tarpworm is just one gram.
When setting up a shelter, first get the stake set. Attach the guy line to the stake and pull the slack through the hole in the Tarpworm. Lastly, form a loop around the body of the Tarpworm and let the line tension hold everything in place. DutchWare has produced a video showing how to properly form the loop. Be sure and check out the video here. I have tried forming the loop in other ways and even though they all work, the method shown by DutchWare seems to work the best.
I used Lawson Glowire for the guy lines on my tarp. DutchWare sells this line and other small cordage that is compatible with Tarpworms.
You can get the Tarpworm with a loop of shock cord attached for $2.50. Tarpworms may be purchased with some Lash It or Zing It guy lines permanently attached for $6. DutchWare Gear also sells a variety of materials for the DIY enthusiast, hammocks, bug nets, and more. Check them out at DutchWareGear.com.
– Mark